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Maine
Statistics on children, youth and families in Maine from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Maine Children's Alliance
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Why This Indicator Matters
Maine continues to be the state with the oldest median age in the country at 45.0 years, according to the 1-year American Community Survey Experimental Tables Maine also had the largest proportion of people over age 65 at 21.8%.
In 2020, Maine had approximately 293,776 people over age 65 compared to 247,952 children ages 17 & under. The high number of people over age 65 has implications for Maine's children and young adults. There are issues in finding younger adults to fill Maine's jobs. The state tax structure will have to take into account a relatively low number of working adults in the workforce at a time when the growing older adult population will need additional health and related services
What the data shows
While the number of children has declined by 6,762 between 2016 and 2020, the opposite pattern has held true for older adults. In Maine the number of people over age 65 has grown 14.0% between 2016 and 2020 and 60.2% from 2000 to 2020. There are by 36,000 more people in the older age group in 2020 compared to 2016 and 110,000 more than there were in 2000.
At the county level, six counties Kennebec, York, Hancock, Waldo, Knox and Sagadahoc Counties had increases in the population over age 65 above 15% in the 4 years between 2016- 2020, but every county saw an increase of at least 9.9% in people over age 65, even those counties that experienced a declining total population of all age groups.
Comparing the number of children to the number of seniors in 2020, only Androscoggin has more children than older adults. Each of the counties of Aroostook, Hancock, and York have at least 4,700 more adults over age 65 than children.
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In 2020, Maine had approximately 293,776 people over age 65 compared to 247,952 children ages 17 & under. The high number of people over age 65 has implications for Maine's children and young adults. There are issues in finding younger adults to fill Maine's jobs. The state tax structure will have to take into account a relatively low number of working adults in the workforce at a time when the growing older adult population will need additional health and related services
What the data shows
While the number of children has declined by 6,762 between 2016 and 2020, the opposite pattern has held true for older adults. In Maine the number of people over age 65 has grown 14.0% between 2016 and 2020 and 60.2% from 2000 to 2020. There are by 36,000 more people in the older age group in 2020 compared to 2016 and 110,000 more than there were in 2000.
At the county level, six counties Kennebec, York, Hancock, Waldo, Knox and Sagadahoc Counties had increases in the population over age 65 above 15% in the 4 years between 2016- 2020, but every county saw an increase of at least 9.9% in people over age 65, even those counties that experienced a declining total population of all age groups.
Comparing the number of children to the number of seniors in 2020, only Androscoggin has more children than older adults. Each of the counties of Aroostook, Hancock, and York have at least 4,700 more adults over age 65 than children.
Definition and Source
PROVIDER
Definition
The number of individuals ages 65 and older.
Data Source
Notes
Updated January 2022.
Last Updated
January 2022